


Letting Go

by wackyjacqs



Series: Bizarre Holidays [176]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s08e07 Affinity, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 12:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19356784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackyjacqs/pseuds/wackyjacqs
Summary: “Do you really think Pete is the right man for her?”“Should we be talking about Carter’s private life?”“It’s just a question.”“It’s never just a question with you,” Jack smirked ruefully.





	Letting Go

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ‘Let It Go Day’ (23 June), a day “to let go of your regrets and forgive yourself for actions taken in the past.”
> 
> In theory. This chapter doesn’t quite go that way…

With a grimace, Jack landed two more right hooks to the punchbag and swiftly followed through with a left uppercut. He grunted and grabbed a hold of the bag, stilling its movements as he tried to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the cool leather.

“I don’t want to hear it,” he mumbled.

Daniel’s mouth snapped shut and a wave of sympathy flooded his features.

“I just heard,” he offered quietly, taking a step closer. “I’m sorry, Jack.”

“I said I don’t want to hear it,” he repeated gruffly as he moved around Daniel and pulled off the boxing gloves, desperately trying to ignore the way the archaeologist watched his every move.

“She hasn’t said yes.”

“Let it go, Daniel,” he sighed as he reached for his towel.

“It’s already been two weeks,” he added unhelpfully. “She doesn’t know what to do.”

Throwing the towel back onto the bench, the General spun on his heel and scowled at his teammate.

“Is there a point to this conversation?” he snapped.

He hesitated, surprised at the venom in his friend’s voice. “It’s just – I thought –”

“Spit it out, Daniel.”

“Sam said you’d left in a hurry – after she told you about the engagement.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m in charge of this place now,” Jack fired back as he gestured vaguely around him. “I don’t have time to hang around Carter’s lab for hours on end.”

"But you've time to hit the gym?"  
  
_"Daniel –"_

“Do you really think Pete is the right man for her?”

“Should we be talking about Carter’s private life?”

“It’s just a question.”

“It’s never just a question with you,” he smirked ruefully as he turned and grabbed his belongings.

He started to make his way towards the door – only for Daniel to step in and block the way.

“It _is_ just a question, Jack. And I don’t think he is,” the younger man continued. “In fact,” he said, standing taller and sounding more confident than before. “I know he isn’t.”

“I said to let it go, Daniel,” Jack growled as he, too, imperceptibly straightened. “Now get out of my way.”

“It’s actually quite funny when you think about it.”

Frustrated at Daniel’s insistence on talking, he rolled his eyes. _“What?”_

“Well, Sam’s taken two weeks to consider Pete’s proposal and whether she is willing to spend the rest of her life with him,” Daniel explained, his expression softening when Jack winced at his words. “Yet she would willingly give her life for you in an instant – and she doesn’t need to consider her decision once.”

His jaw tensed as he let his friend’s words sink in and he sighed heavily.

“She deserves to be happy, Daniel.”

“But is Pete really the one to do that?”

“Maybe you should ask Carter.”

“Or maybe you should talk to her.”

_“Daniel –”_

“It’s only a suggestion,” he shrugged, stepping away from his friend and heading for the door, “but I know you, Jack.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve been through too much to just walk away from something you care about without a fight.”

“You have no –”

“Don’t make this into something you’ll regret.”

With that, Daniel disappeared, the door swinging shut the only sign that he’d been standing their moments earlier. Closing his eyes, Jack sighed and sat down onto the bench. He knew his friend was right; he would regret every single second that he let Carter go, but he couldn’t tell her not to marry the cop. Despite his feelings for Sam, she was still under his command and he would never ask her to wait for him or expect her to give up her own career, just so they could be together. She deserved to be happy and have a family and if Pete could give her that and make her happy, then Jack could live with that. He wouldn’t be happy about it, but as long as Sam was happy, that was all that mattered to him.

With hindsight, perhaps he should have pressed Sam slightly more and actually talked about the Za'tarc incident four years earlier. Maybe, he should have fought harder for his resignation to go through last year after the battle over Antarctica. And now, he knows that he shouldn’t have walked out of Sam’s lab and left her staring after him the way he did.

Jack slowly got to his feet. He appreciated Daniel’s advice but he wasn’t going to follow it. He couldn’t. It wasn’t fair to himself or to Sam.

This would just have to be another regret he’d chalk up in his life when it came to Samantha Carter and missed opportunities.


End file.
